LISTEN: Travis Scott Rodeo First Impression

Travis Scott Rodeo (2015)

After months of incessant teasing from Mike Dean, Travis Scott‘s debut studio album Rodeo finally drops today. (Stream via Spotify below, or buy the standard and deluxe version of the record on iTunes.)

NOTE: For this piece, I listened to the standard version of the album, so “OK / Alright (Feat. ScHoolboy Q)” and “Never Catch Me” do not factor into my first impressions.

First impressions:

Of the 14 tracks that comprise the album, 6 are longer than 5 minutes. The album often drags and plods as a result, collapsing under the weight of its excessive ideas.

Last three songs “Flying High (Feat. Toro Y Moi),” “I Can Tell” and “Apple Pie”, comprise the longest stretch on the album of songs under four minutes. Besides “Maria I’m Drunk (feat. Justin Bieber & Young Thug),” they’re the only tracks that avoid the album’s production’s most prominent missteps of drowning out Travis and other features to the point of un-listenability.

Production is overpowering, but never in a way that’s genuinely compelling. Up until now, Travis has always stood as a calculated mirror of whatever was popular in rap music. It’s fitting, then, that upon releasing a record that is postured to say, “This is me, this is who I am,” Travis sounds uncomfortable recycling tried-and-true ideas, and that he only ever has the flaccidity of his lacking mic presence to contribute.

Peep the newest addition to Travi$ Scott’s hip hop career below and let us know what you think of his debut in the comment section!

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